Perry Groves reckons that Arsenal fans will not be overly concerned if Cesc Fabregas joins Barcelona this summer, as he is no Thierry Henry.
The 24-year-old Arsenal skipper is edging closer and closer to a return to his boyhood club this summer, with the transfer fee being the only real stumbling block.
But Groves believes the time has come for the Spanish midfielder to leave, and thinks the Arsenal faithful will not be too bothered or upset.
The former Gunner told talkSPORT today:
‘If he signs for Barcelona, I don’t think any Arsenal fan will moan. We’ve had him for eight years. We got him for nothing. We’re going to sell him for £35 million.’
‘He’s not up there with the Arsenal greats. He’s a very good player, he’s been an excellent player for Arsenal, but you wouldn’t put him up there with Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira and Dennis Bergkamp.’
Groves also questioned Fabregas’ love for the Catalan club, insisting that the Spaniard should have never left for London in the first place if his ties are so strong:
‘If Cesc Fabregas had that emotional tie to Barcelona that he says he’s got why did he leave when he was 16? Why didn’t he try to get into their first team? It’s not as if Barcelona don’t promote their top young players.’
I am actually one of those fans who won’t moan or be too upset if Fabregas does leave.
I commend Cesc for his efforts and time he has put in at the club, but like Groves, I too believe that the time has come for him to fulfil his dream and rejoin his boyhood club this summer.
Undoubtedly, Fabregas is a great player who certainly has a bright future ahead of him, but like Grovsey stated and I agree with, Cesc is no Thierry Henry.
We have lost better and survived.
Do you agree with Grovsey?
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agreed. We have had good years out if him and in terms of passion, he has no more to offer us. Let him go with best wishes and a big sum of cash for us. In my opinion its Nasri that we need to hold on to. Pay him what he needs or someone else will. Thats the way football works. We have surely learnt our lesson by losing out on buying players by being slow and tight, lets not start losing our own beacause of it. He is already showing moments of pure greatness and has not even reached his peak. There is a lot of talk about who we will buy to replace fab if/when he goes but I say, to spend big just as a replacement is pointless and a gamble. Im not saying dont buy anyone but Im saying Nasri is the ready made replacement for fab which leaves us with cash to spend in the areas that desperately need to be filled, 2 cental defenders, possibly a backup holding midfielder and a striker.
I dont agree with that, i think fellow gunners who believe he’s not up with the arsenal greats are wrong and they’re just remembering fabregas for his efforts last season. He had a world cup which his team won, so he had a busy summer and came back with countless injuries and just couldn’t get going like a number of top players in the prem (torres, rooney, drogba etc). Nasri on the other hand had the summer off and came back fresh. I personally will be gutted when he departs for barca, at the age of 24 he’s only going to improve in the next 4-5 years, how good will he be then? He’s a top player and i’m sure he will have a top season (if he plays!!!).
Well some might say ‘he’s not up there with the greats’ but clearly forget to mention he is still young and can quite easily become one of the greats if he was to stay which seems unlikely. Of course I would rather he stay than leave, he is one the best central midfielders in the world so will obviously be difficult to replace. About him leaving Barca in the first place they didn’t think much of him or else they would not have let him go for nothing, he was only 16 at the time and the club CHOSE to sell him rather than give him a chance.
You must win a trophy or two in order to be considered a legend at a club like Arsenal – which is expected to win trophies now and then. He hasn’t done that. Most troublingly, he feels he can’t win anything at Arsenal which is why he, among others, has given up on Wenger’s youth project.
If we had a better chance of winning titles Cesc probably wouldn’t mind staying on a while longer.
Fabregas won us no silverware – he is NOT an Arsenal great. He could be but he didn’t try hard enough in my opinion. The club will be better off without him. Goo luck tho Cesc!
they r nothng without Cesc !!
they cud jst try 2 win but may nt succeed i guess..
Cesc was a gud weapon the gunners had..
n nw they will rely on nasri..
who is way ahead of competing fabregas !!
@stu u dnt noe anytthng abt fabregas..
hezz d best midfielder away !!